Educational Opportunities + Resources
At STEAMahead our goal is to offer a program and activities that can be replicated by any school, anywhere. Here are a few of our favorite resources and educational tools you can use to bring STEAM into your learning environment.
The ISS National Laboratory is a fantastic go-to hub packed with thousands of resources and links to other programs and organizations. Some are free and some require a bit of equipment, but all are specially designed to engage kids in space-related activities in a variety of areas from robotics and genetics to plant cultivation and beyond.
Space Station Explorers is a community of educators, learners, and organizations that make STEM learning fun and exciting through connections with the International Space Station (ISS) National Lab. Check out their website for tons of activities and resources, for both explorers and educators alike!
Expedition Space Lab is an online tool from the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory that provides educators with easy access to ISS-related lessons, activities, and other resources to integrate into their curriculum. The ISS National Lab is excited to help educators bring out-of-this-world learning opportunities to their students!
Space Station Explorers STEM Kit
These six hands-on activities, using easily accessible materials, introduce core concepts about the ISS. A great entry point for students and educators.
• Humans in Space: Measuring Distances
• Mission Patch Design: Crew Unity in Space
• Ready to Launch: Engineering Rockets
• Spacewalk Simulation
• Story Time from Space: Max Goes to ISS
• Design a Space Station
Students conduct experiments (such as growing plants) in their classroom ExoLab while following along with a concurrent experiment on the ISS. The class receives real-time data from the ISS that students can analyze and compare with their ground-based lab.
Become a space biology pioneer
Students in grades 7 - 12 will design a DNA experiment that solves a real-world challenge in space exploration. The winning experimental design will be conducted aboard the International Space Station!
Led by the First the Seed Foundation, Tomatosphere™ has evolved into a regular component of the science curriculum in schools for grades K - 8, engaging more than 3 million students across the US and Canada since 2001.
ISS GrowLab Kit
Students make a plant grow lab akin to the Veggie Experiment on ISS, then compare various seed types for hardiness. This experiment helps Veggie scientists decide which seeds are hardy enough for space. The most robust seeds are flown to ISS for the on-orbit Veggie experiment.
Germs in Space DreamKit
With a Germs in Space DreamKit, learners explore what small life lives around them, and they compare what they find with what astronauts found on the ISS! The kit comes with everything you need to implement your experiment; an exploration guidebook with instructions, scientific information, and activities; and access to an exclusive online portal to compare your learner’s results on Earth with the results in outer space.
Space Farmer DreamKit
With our Space Farmer DreamKit, learners will grow plants on Earth and compare them to plants grown by astronauts on the International Space Station! The kit comes with materials to implement your experiment; an exploration guidebook with instructions, scientific information, and activities; as well as access to an online portal to compare the results on the ground with the results in space.
ISS ABOVE
WATCH LIVE VIDEO OF THE EARTH
A fun and educational tool that connects people to the International Space Station, and the humans on board. Track the location of the ISS across the sky and watch live video views.
This free 15-minute virtual field trip will take kids 250 miles above earth to see how slime, and water, react in a microgravity environment. It's truly out of this world!
A space-based programming competition for middle and high school students whose name refers to three characteristics that make it accessible and exciting:
Zero cost: Participation is free.
Zero configuration: No special software is required.
Zero gravity: Every competition culminates in a championship on the ISS.
Barbie in Space
Orion's quest
OQ is an internet based, education program for upper elementary, middle and high school students. OQ employs current NASA research to reach and inspire “the next generation of explorers.”